EXCAVATIO THREF NO E NEOLITHIC CHAMBERED TOMBS3 10 . X. THE EXCAVATIO THREF NO E NEOLITHIC CHAMBERED TOMBS IN GALLOWAY, 1949. BY STUART PIGGOTT, B.LiTT., F.S.A., F.S.A.SCOT., Professo f Prehistorio r c Archaeolog e Universitth n yi y of Edinburgh, AND T. G. E. POWELL, M.A., F.S.A., Lecturer in Prehistoric Western European Archaeology in the University of Liverpool. CONTENTS. PAGE INTRODUCTION ........... 103 PAET I.—DESCRIPTIO CAIRNHOLE TH 6 F N10 O Y. EXCAVATION . S Cairnholy Chambered Cairn No. I ..... 106 Cairnholy Chambered Cairn No. II . .123 PART II.—DISCUSSION OF THE CAIRNHOLY EXCAVATIONS . 129 PART III.—THE GALLOWAY GROU GLYDE-CARLINGFORF PO 0 D14 TOMB . S PART IV.—EXCAVATION OF THE WHITE CAIRN, BARGRENNAN . 144 PART V.—DISCUSSION OF THE BARGRENNAN EXCAVATION . 151 APPENDICE F .........A- S 3 15 . INTRODUCTION. Thanks to the work of Childe l and Daniel,2 it has been possible within e lasyearn th te tmak o t s e certain basic divisions withi greae nth t group of Western European collective chambered tombs, spread from Iberio t a the Orkneys and beyond, and in genera] the products of Neolithic or early metal-using cultures round abou beginnine th t e seconth f go d millennium B.C. These divisions are based on recurrent peculiarities of tomb-plan and architectural techniques, which can be seen to be consistent within certain geographical areas, and can often be correlated with distinctive forms of pottery and other grave-goods. Two major recognisede groupb n ca s , represente locay db l derivatives d variantan n mani s y area f Iberiao s , Franc d Britainan e thougd an , h typologically degenerate tombs can be confusingly similar in ground- 1 Prehist. Comma, of British Isles (1940), pp. 46 if., summarising earlier papers. 2 Proc. Prehist. Soc., vol. vii. (1941) . 1-49pp , . 104 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1948-49. plans, the primary types seem distinct and recognisable. One such type is that of a more or less rectangular burial vault set at one end of a long cairn—the Gallery-Grave, e otheth a round r an r polygonao d l burial chamber approache narroa y rouna db n wi dt passag se cairn—th d ean e Passage- Grave. e mosOnth f teo notable region f colonisatioo s buildery nb f Galleryso - Graves in Britain is that around the head of the Irish Sea, including Ulster, West Scotland and the Isle of Man. In these areas occur a large numbe f chambereo r d tombs (probably betweed 200an ) 0 witn15 h certain features in common, and, from their concentration around Carlingford Loug Northern hi n moute Irelane Clydth th f d Scotlandn ehi o d an , they have been classified as the Clyde-Carlingford group of tombs. The pioneer work of Bryce in the Clyde mouth area, and the later extensive excavations of Estyn Evans and Da vies in Ulster,1 2 have given faia s r u knowledg materiae th f eo l cultur e builderth f eo f thesso e tombs as represented by grave-goods, and in Ireland at least some information on the burial ritual and sequence of funerary deposits. One site has also been excavate Isle t Manalthougf th eo Bu n di . t leasha t eight long cairns in Galloway could be seen from surface indications to represent tombs of the Clyde-Carlingford class, no excavations had taken place in this area. In view of this gap in our knowledge of the Clyde-Carlingford culture, the Research Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, when considering post-war plan r excavationfo s n Scotlandi s , gav a ehig h priority to the selected excavation of one or more chambered tombs of this type in Galloway. The two closely adjacent tombs on the farm of Cairnholy, between Gatehous f Flee eo Creetownd an t , Kirkcudbrightshire, were chosen not only for their accessibility but because, although much ruined and plundered, certain features (notably the forecourt area described below) appeared to be intact and likely to provide important information on ritual and the burial sequence. Furthermore, the presence of two sites withie anothe yard0 on 50 nf o sr meant that they coul e excavateb d d conveniently under centralised supervision, and it was hoped that some evidence of the relative date of one to the other might be obtained. Excavation unde e directio th re writer th accordingls f no wa s y carried out between 20th June and 2nd July 1949 by students working under e auspice th e Scottisth f o s h Field Schoo f Archaeologyo l . Owine th o gt remarkably fine weather, which permitte uninterrupten da f eighto n -dru hour workin siteso tw g, e wor daycompleteth s n kswa o d ahea schedulef do , 1 Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vols. xxxvi. (1902), pp. 74-181; xxxvii. (1903), pp. 36-67; xxxviii. (1904), pp. 17-81; xliii. (1909), pp. 337-70. 2 Mainly publishe n Ulsteri d Journ. Arch., N.S., vols. i-v. (1938-42). Consolidated list with bibliographical references in ibid., vol. vi. (1943), p. 4. EXCAVATION OF THREE NEOLITHIC CHAMBERED TOMBS. 105 and a small supplementary excavation was therefore undertaken on a third site described below.1 n additio I e chambereth o t n d e Gallery-Gravcairnth f o s e clasn i s Galloway knows wa t ni , tha isolatee t on ther s dewa exampl a smal f o e l (and typologically late) Passage-Grave withi mile5 1 n f Cairnholyo s e th , CHAMBERED TOMB GALLOWAN I S Y Pig. 1. (The Cairnholy tombs are Nos. 2 and 3; Bargrennan No. 11.) eastern of the two White Cairns of Bargrennan.2 It seemed desirable to Walter M o t r e McCullochthankr du Ou 1e sar ownee th , f Cairnholyo r Andrer Si o Ladd t ,w an y McCulloc Macmillanr Ardwallf M ho o t d tenane an ,th , f Cairnholyo t permissior fo , excavateo nt d an , for every helencouragemend pan t durin e workgth . Financial grants wer ee Societmadth y f eb yo Antiquarie Educatioe th Scotlanf so y b d ndan Committe Kirkcudbrighe th f eo t County Councile Th ' . County Council further co-operate loae huta th f no ,y dwheelbarrowb othed san r tackle whicr fo , e hw were most grateful studentx Si . s workee excavationsth n o d , fro e Universitiemth f Edinburgho s , Glasgow and London, as well as Mr Allard Johnson of the West Highland Agricultural College. To all these strenuous and cheerful workers the success of the excavation is ultimately due. Thanks are due to the Forestry Commission, on whose land the White Cairn lies, for permission to excavate2 . This cairn, and those at Cairnholy, are scheduled under the Ancient Monuments Act, 106 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , 1948-49. investigate this very ruined site in the hope of obtaining some evidence s relationshipoit f lacr o ,relationshipf ko dominane th o t , t Gallery-Graves districte odaysfth o Tw ' .wor k were accordingly unplundere e spenth n o t d chambee parth f o tpassaged an r , with interesting results. The following report is divided into three main sections, dealing with cairno tw t Cairnhola se th thad t Bargrennaan ya t n respectively. Fol- lowing these excavation reports, we have added a short discussion of the Clyde-Carlingford tombs in Galloway as a group, based on field-work e summeth carrien i f 194 t o r dou 9 take conjunction ni n wit e resulthth s excavationse oth f . PART I.—DESCRIPTION OP THE CAIRNHOLY EXCAVATIONS. CAIRNHOLY CHAMBERED CAIRN No. I. The Site and its Setting (figs. 1 and 2). Thi s companionsit caird an n , Cairnhol hig n , boto yII h e hli groun d abov valleKirkdale e eth th f yo e Burn1 , which t Wigtowruna a s se int e noth Fig . Sit2 . e pla Cairnholf no y Chambered Cairn sanI . dII littla y e Ba over hal southe 400-foo e mila th f Th o et . t contour actually and the excavations were carried out with the permission of the Ancient Monuments Department of the Ministry of Works, through the Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Scotland, Mr Stewart Cruden. 1 Nat. Grid Ref. 517538; O.S. 6-inch sheet Kirkcudbrightshire XLVII S.W., Royal Comm. Anc. Mons. (Scot.), Kirkcudbrightshire Inventory (1914), No. 288. EXCAVATION OF THREE NEOLITHIC CHAMBERED TOMBS. 107 passes throug site Cairnholf hth eo y It liei gentl:n so y sloping land rising fee5 Craigmuln o t62 o t e halnorthe mila fth o et , wit s lonhit g axis along contoure southe th th gentle o th T , . e slope continue fee0 50 t r beforfo s e e steeth pe Kirkdal th clef f o t e Glen e northbegins th looke o on p T , u s. the valley of the Kirkdale Burn between Cairnholy Hill (850 feet) and Cairnharrow (1497 feet), which dominates the northern skyline. South- wards there is a wide view over Wigtown Bay, the peninsula of Wigtown being terminated by the Isle of Whithorn 11 miles away across the entrance of the Bay, and beyond and to the south-east the mountains of the Isle of Man, 35 miles away, are conspicuous on clear days. The solid geology is that of the Llandovery subdivision of the Silurian, with flags, shales, grits and greywackes, overlaid almost entirely by glacial deposits. Along the eastern side of Wigtown Bay the Early Post-Glacial Raised Beach is merged in the spread of estuarine deposits brought down Rivee byth r Cree.1 Visible Structures before Excavation (fig.